


A helping hand

by Sinikka_von_Wolperting



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bromance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 16:05:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10166696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinikka_von_Wolperting/pseuds/Sinikka_von_Wolperting
Summary: Stress can do a lot of things to your body and your mind. Prompto hadn't had it easy the last days.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elillierose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elillierose/gifts).



> Massive thanks to Elillierose for beta reading and helping me to stay motivated. Also I wrote this story for her. Please bear with me and English not being my first language, I had a lot of fun writing this. You may want to listen to I'll sleep when I am dead by Set It Off at some point. Have fun reading!

Prompto curled up in his sleeping bag, trying to hide from the first rays of the rising sun. Ignis was stirring behind him, which means he would have less than an hour to get some more sleep before the alarm would start.

Acting like he was still asleep so Ignis wouldn't notice, he tried to concentrate, tried to conjure up something that would let him fall back asleep. He wasn't sure how many hours he had slept that night, but it felt like it weren't enough.

He heard Ignis preparing the breakfast outside, heard the birds and noises of other animals, the light snoring of Gladio, who was still asleep. As was Noct. All this should feel so nice, it should lull him back to sleep as it always did when he woke up earlier than usual. This time he wanted everything to be silent. It was too loud, how could anyone sleep with that much noise?

It was the fourth day. The fourth day of camping, the fourth day of being out in the middle of absolutely nothing, being jumped by monsters as soon as they stepped too far away from the haven. It wasn't the first time for them to camp out over days and days but the sheer amount of monsters in this region made it hard to relax even when they were sitting inside the protective runes of the havens.

It was also the fourth day of little to no sleep for Prompto.

His head jerked up when something grabbed his ankle and he met eyes with Gladio. When did he got up? Turning a bit to look next to him he saw nothing.

"What."

"Would appreciate if you'd consider finally leaving the tent."

Prompto kept staring dumbfounded at the bigger man. Weren't he and Noctis still asleep next to him a minute ago?

"You okay?" Gladio asked, "Don't tell me you're still tired. Ignis let you sleep in for more than three hours, even Noct woke up already."

"He did?"

"Yes, I did." Ignis' shape appeared at the tent's entrance, "I figured that it won't be of use if we're all tired out. It's still quite the way back to civilization and I don't think the daemons will leave us alone just because we're exhausted."

Prompto nodded in silence. It was a nice gesture but he didn't feel rested at all, though he wouldn't dare to tell this to anyone. He didn't want to be a drag, didn't want to hold them back just because he had some minor sleeping problems.

He rubbed his eyes and forced a smile on his face.

"But you did save me some breakfast, right?"

Gladio chuckled, "You should hurry then, before our dear prince gets his grabby hands on it."

* * *

"Man, I hate rain." Noctis sighed shuddering. The downpour had started shortly after they left the haven and seemed to get worse by the minute.

Freezing from the cold rain, Prompto stuffed his hands under his arms. "Maybe we should go back and wait it out?"

Ignis stopped and seriously considered turning back when he felt a slight shift under his feet. Looking down, he saw mud slowly sliding down the slope they were going up.

Before he could call out to the others he lost his footing altogether as everything turned into a mudslide. Gladio was fastest to react by slamming his sword deep enough into the ground to hold him. He grabbed Noctis by the collar of his jacket, pulling him close to prevent him from sliding further down. Prompto, who was a bit ahead of Noctis before, tried to control his slide to get near Gladio as well and reached out reflexively as soon as he thought he could grab something that would hold him. He did manage to grab something but let go again, as a sharp pain shot through his hand, realizing too late that he had grabbed the blade of Gladio's broadsword.

He missed Gladio's outstretched hand and slid down the hill, becoming faster as the mudslide got bigger. He got turned around a few times and completely lost his sense of direction. His head slammed against something hard and for a moment his body went limp as he fought against the unconsciousness. The next thing Prompto felt were branches scratching his arms and he instinctively grabbed one of them to pull himself up a bit. Looking around he saw some uprooted trees sticking out just enough for him to climb to safety, hoping they would withstand the constant stream of water and mud.

Clawing his way through the bushes, Prompto managed to reach the trees and climbed one of them, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that it was also supported by some large boulders, so it would possibly hold him for the time being. He wiped his face, trying to clean off the dirt put ended up just smearing it more. When he finally was able to see clearly again, he tried to make out the others, but with a sense of dread realized that he could see none of them. Taking a few shaky breaths he called out their names, hoping for a small sign but he couldn't hear anything through the rain and so he could only stay put, hoping that they were safe.

* * *

 

Gladio couldn't be more thankful for the prince's ability to warp. As soon as he felt steady enough, Noctis warped himself out of the danger zone and onto a stone platform not too far away and managed to get Gladio and Ignis, who was able to hold onto one of Gladio's legs before he could slide down further.

With his friends safe Noctis was about to warp further down to look for Prompto, when a big hand grabbed his wrist.

"Let go." He hissed, trying to pull away but Gladio didn't budge. "I have to get him out of there."

"And how?" Gladio growled. He felt as distressed as Noctis, still thinking of the the blond's hand he missed by only a few inches. If he had just reacted faster.

"We can't see shit through that rain, you remember what happened last time you blindly warped somewhere without knowing where to? Do you want me and Iggy to look for both of you?"

"And what do you expect me to do then? Just sit here and wait?"

"We don't have a choice right now, Noct." Ignis chimed in, "We can only hope Prompto was lucky enough to find something to hold onto until the rain stops. We hate this as much as you do but now is not the time to make rash decisions."

With a sigh Noctis relaxed his arm and dismissed his sword again, which lead Gladio to release his wrist again. Sitting down at the edge of the platform, the three of them stared down the mud-covered hillside, waiting for the weather to clear up enough for them to see further down.

For two seemingly endless hours nothing changed. Then finally the thick curtain of rain cleared a bit until it was just a light dribble and they were able to look down into the valley.

"Over there." Ignis said, standing up, "Do you see those trees?"

They both looked in the direction Ignis was indicating. Sitting on a tree trunk was a figure that could be Prompto, but it was difficult to tell over the distance. Summoning his sword, Noctis didn't give Gladio even a chance to stop him as he warped down with a few swift strikes.

It was indeed Prompto. And he didn't look good. The left side of his face was covered in blood from a cut at his temple and he looked incredibly exhausted. Noctis waved with both arms in the direction of Ignis and Gladio to sign to them, that he had found their lost friend before turning back again.

"Prom, are you alright?" He crouched down on the trunk so he wouldn't slip and tried to lock eyes with the blond. "Hey, you hear me?"

Prompto felt dizzy, pain pulsating through his skull and his vision didn't want to stay in focus. When he heard a familiar voice, it took him a few moments to fully understand, that someone was speaking to him. Lifting his head he stared blankly at the blurry figure. When his eyes finally focused again he felt relieved.

"N-noct?" He stammered, "You okay? A-and the others?"

"They're coming down now. Let's get outta here." He leaned a bit forward and offered Prompto a hand, not wanting to climb any further in case the tree wouldn't hold the two of them.

The sky slowly cleared up and Gladio felt like the sun was mocking them now, watching them wade carefully through thigh-deep mud. Noctis and Prompto were about to climb down the tree when they arrived.

"Hey buddy, are you still in one piece?" He greeted Prompto, extending his arms to help the younger man down. He winced and shuddered as his legs sank down in the mud with a disgusting noise.

"I guess." Prompto said, a slight waver in his voice, "Can we go back to the car, now?"

"I'm afraid this will not be that simple." Ignis said, looking up the hill, which was now covered in sludge. "We can't go up this way. I guess we have to walk alongside the hill until we find a place where we can go up again."

"I don't like the idea but looks like we have no choice." Gladio sighed, a hand still on Prompto's shoulder, who seemed a little shaky. Noticing the cut on Prompto's temple he added, "Also, this nasty wound needs tending, so let's go, before the earth starts moving again."

* * *

 

It felt good being able to move freely again, when they finally got out of the muddy swamp. They walked a bit further, just to be safe, before they sat down and rested, Ignis not wasting any time to look over Promptos injuries.

"Are there any potions left?" He asked while checking Prompto's palm, that had a deep cut from when he gripped Gladio's sword. Everyone shook their head. They brought many potions, knowing that this region was filled with beasts and daemons, but after four days out there, there was nothing left.

With a deep sigh Ignis proceeded with some of his bottled water so they would at least be properly rinsed. Prompto only winced a few times but otherwise barely reacted to anything they did until Gladio tried to get him back on his feet.

"Think you can walk?"

"Yeah." He said in a barely audible voice and tried to get to his feet. He failed to get all the way up and only didn't face-plant because Gladio reacted fast enough, grabbing his upper arm and holding him, until it looked like he could stay on his feet alone.

"Are you sur-"

"It's okay." Prompto interrupted with an annoyed voice, "I can walk. Just...let's go. Please?"

Gladio nodded, a bit thrown off from this unusual reaction but he chose to not talk about it. He was possibly just exhausted after this trip. He still kept a close eye on the blond while walking, just to be safe.

After a while the sky darkened again, grey clouds signalizing another coming rainstorm. Ignis – leading the group as always – stopped and observed the clouds for a moment before turning around.

"We should set the tent before the rain starts again. It's no use to keep walking through another downpour like that." He said and the others agreed with a silent nod.

They sought shelter between some trees and hurried to set the tent. Prompto did his best to help but kept dropping things until he eventually got gently pushed aside by Ignis. That didn't feel good but the blond didn't protest. He'd rather kept walking, didn't even want to look at the tent, knowing what it meant.

"Prom?" Noct's voice. Looking up Prompto stared at a blurry figure again.

"Huh?" He rubbed his eyes to force them to focus again but his world kept blurring after a few seconds.

"You coming?" Noctis asked, putting a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him towards the tent. "Iggy made some sandwiches and I think we all need some more sleep now. Especially you, you didn't even react when we were calling."

"I didn't?"

The feeling of dread worsened as he sat down inside the tent with the others. He had to sleep this time or he'd go completely nuts, he knew that.

He forced himself to eat at least half of the sandwich to not make the others worry, barely participating in their conversations. He kept trying to focus his eyes until it somewhat worked. When they heard the first drops of rain against the roof of their tent they went quiet for a moment.

"Glad we aren't outside right now." Noctis said with a relieved sigh and started to crawl into his bedroll.

Prompto felt like he was falling.

Ignis and Gladio laid down as well. Prompto reluctantly did the same, hands shaking and losing his grip a few times.

Ignis turned off the flashlight.

The darkness felt loud. Prompto wanted to scream.

Curling up in his sleeping bag the blond tried to listen to the raindrops on the tent, the wind rustling the trees, tried to find any relaxation in it that would get him to sleep. It was unbearably loud. Why did it have to rain? Why was the wind so loud? He wanted to kick Noctis for turning a few times.

His hands searched for his phone. It was dirty but other than that it had survived the mud bath quite well. For a few minutes he just stared at the time, counting the seconds, watching the numbers change. Time went on so incredibly slow.

Gladio was mumbling something in his sleep and Prompto bit his lip. Shut up, he thought. Shut up, you're too loud. I can't concentrate.

Eventually he opened King's Knight. Why not play a bit when he was already awake. Maybe that would tire him out. He tried to play but the phone kept slipping from his grasp and when he got to the point where he wanted to just throw it away, he decided to return to watching the time go by. He kept staring at the lit screen, counting the seconds in hope that this would finally calm him enough, when a hand appeared from behind the phone, grabbing it and pulling it out of his hands.

With the phone right in front of his face gone, he stared into Ignis' stern eyes. He had leaned over Noctis, who was already fast asleep, to take the disturbing light source from Prompto and was now about to lie back down. With his phone still in hand.

"Sleep." He said, not sounding angry but strict, not accepting any protest. "You will get this back tomorrow, now you need to rest."

Prompto stared at the back of Ignis' head for a moment, after he had turned his back to him, contemplating if it would work if he'd just demand to have his phone back. He decided against it, he would have had no chance against someone like Ignis. He'd just wake the others.

He winced as something rustled outside. His headaches seemed to worsen the longer he listened to the unbearably loud rain. Noctis moved again, rustling his sleeping bag and Prompto fought down the urge to knee him in the back to hold still.

Pressing his hands on his ears he tried to shut out all the noise, sliding even deeper into his sleeping bag. But it was no use.

"I just want to sleep." He whispered, tears burning in his eyes.

* * *

 

Gladio was the first to wake up in the morning – or so he thought. He first glanced over to Ignis, who hadn't moved yet, only noticing the empty sleeping bag next to him as he was about to get up. That was unusual.

"Prom?" He asked as he had left the tent. The blond sat on a stone not far away and had a blank expression on his face. Walking over Gladio noticed the dark shadows under his eyes and that his face looked a bit puffy.

"Prompto." He said again, a little louder this time. The younger man jerked his head up and stared at Gladio, seemingly not recognizing him at first.

"Wha?" The blond then said groggily, "Oh. Morning I guess."

"How come you're already awake."

"Does it matter?"

Taken aback by this question, Gladio fell silent for a moment. What was wrong with him?

"It does, Prompto." He said as he found his voice again, "You look like you haven't slept a single minute."

"I've slept enough." Prompto replied, turning away from Gladio with a dismissive hand gesture. "I'm having a headache, can you leave me alone now?"

Gladio didn't know what to say. It was absolutely not like Prompto to behave like that. But seeing that he obviously was in a bad mood, he chose to leave him alone for the moment.

Ignis woke up not long after this. Breakfast was sparse and hurried and Prompto barely touched his food, blocking most tries to start a conversation with him. He felt awful. Every noise felt like a burning needle in his head, everything was too loud. While the others were packing and cleaning up, he wandered off a bit, playing with his phone he got pack from Ignis as promised, until he dropped it the third time and angrily shoved it into his pocket.

"What's up with him?" Noctis asked, occasionally glancing over to the blond, who was now leaning against a tree, rubbing his eyes again.

"Headache." Gladio answered with a shrug, "'Least that's what he told me."

"He is distressed. I don't blame him, the last days were strenuous" Ignis said, joining them. He said nothing about taking the blond's phone the last night, deciding that it wasn't a big thing. It wasn't the first time he caught Prompto playing games in the middle of the night, forgetting the time. "We should hurry now, I don't know how far we have do go until we will be able to walk in the direction we have to again."

* * *

 

Prompto kept falling behind. His body felt heavy and his eyes refused to focus, blurring his surroundings again and again. Rubbing his eyes helped for a few minutes but this was starting to hurt. The slight drizzle of rain only made it worse. He stopped again to rub his eyes, wincing a bit as he touched the skin around them.

"He's doing it again." Noctis sighed, looking over his shoulder to Prompto, who had fallen back a bit and stopped again.

Gladio rolled his eyes, but turned around, giving Noct and Ignis a short wave. "Keep going, we will catch up. I'm gonna get him." With this he jogged over to the blond.

"Prom." He called out. Prompto winced at his loud voice which made Gladio frown. He knew his voice wasn't the softest but the blond reacted as if he'd been hit by something.

"Hey." He tried again, his voice a bit softer now, "I know this isn't fun at all but you-" He fell silent as Prompto lifted his head a bit to look at the bigger man. The skin around his eyes was red and looked raw and painful. Paired with the dark shadows under his eyes the blond looked seriously sick.

"What?" He snapped as Gladio decided to just stare at him.

"You haven't slept last night, have you?" Gladio asked calmly.

"And what if?"

"Why, Prompto?"

Seeing that he was about to rub his fist over his eyes again, Gladio grabbed Prompto's wrists, preventing him from doing so. That only seemed to make the younger more erratic. He tried to pull away from Gladio's iron grip, blinking frantically to keep his eyes focused.

"Simmer down, Prompto. It will start bleeding if you keep this up." Gladio said, holding his hands firmly in place, waiting for Prompto to calm down a bit, only to feel a kick against his knee that caught him off guard. Had Prompto really kicked him?

The blond ripped his hands from Gladio's now loosened grasp and briskly walked in the direction of Ignis and Noctis, arms wrapped around his chest in a defensive way. Gladio only wanted to help, he knew that, but somehow this made him angry. He never asked for help or anything, he just wanted it all to be over. A choked sob escaped his throat and he rubbed over his eyes again with the back of his hand, ignoring the pain. He ignored the blood, that was now smeared across his hand, only wiping it on his shirt.

He heard steps behind him and felt Gladio's eyes burn in his neck but he chose to ignore him.

"What was that all about? Are you okay?" Noctis' voice made him jump a bit. Weren't they much further away?

"It's nothing." He said through clenched teeth. "Can we keep going?"

He kept staring at their feet, not wanting to look any of them in the eye right now but he didn't even need to look to know that the three of them exchanged questioning glances.

"Can we go now?" Prompto asked again, a bit louder this time. He felt Gladio behind him moving and soon after, Ignis nodded and turned around again. Appreciating the silence, Prompto followed, keeping his distance from Gladio.

They walked in silence for a while, eyes still on the hillside in search of a spot to climb up somehow. The drizzle had turned into rain again, soaking them all to the bone. Prompto had tucked his hands under his arms to stunt the shaking but with the rest of his body shaking as well it was futile. He was able to keep their pace now but only because he didn't want Gladio to catch him alone again.

Suddenly he slammed into something, turning out to be Ignis who had stopped dead in his tracks. He had cocked his head slightly to one side as if listening and lifted one hand to signal the others to be silent.

For about a minute they all stood in silence, trying to filter any other noise through the constant dribble of the rain. Prompto wanted to cover his ears.

"Something's coming." Ignis said, daggers already in his hands. This caused the others to tense, looking in the general direction Ignis was staring, calling their weapons. A light clatter forced Noctis to turn. Prompto was staring at his hand, gun lying at his feet. He knew he was just holding it, so why did he let go? Swallowing hard he knelt down to grab the gun again. It felt strange in his hand.

"Eyes forward!" Ignis called out. A huge head emerged from the muddy hillside, fangs bared. The sharp hissing made Prompto flinch as it triggered another wave of pain in his head.

"Midgarsomr?" Gladio gasped, "Here?"

"Must have come here from the swamp, perfect conditions here in the rain." Ignis said, taking a few steps back to lure it further out of the mud.

"Don't care, I don't wanna be eaten by that thing." Feeling a sudden surge of adrenaline, Noctis just warped in, hitting the giant snake right in the head.

With an annoyed groan Ignis chose to move as well, followed closely by Gladio. Being the ranged fighter of the group, Prompto automatically kept his distance, observing the fight. He grabbed his gun with both hands, holding it up to aim. Why does it feel so strange? Was he holding it right? He lowered the weapon for a moment, just to look at it, recognizing it's shape.

When he heard another loud hiss and a curse he lifted it back up, aiming at the head again. He took another few steps back, trying to breathe calmly, waiting for his moment.

The beast lowered its head.

Prompto followed, hearing only the rushing of blood in his head.

There. This was it, this was his moment. He pulled the trigger right when another sharp pain shot through his head and his eyes went out of focus again.

The monster roared in pain but he also heard another cry of pain.

Letting one hand limply fall to his side, still holding the gun, the blond rubbed his free arm over his eyes until he felt the skin ripping. Hearing fast footsteps approach he lowered his arm and opened his eyes again. He still couldn't see clearly on one side but it was enough to see Gladio storming over to him.

With a mad expression on his face the larger man snatched the gun from his hand.

"Stay away." He growled, "Leave this to us and don't do anything, understood?" He didn't wait for an answer as he turned around to join the fight again. The realization came when Prompto noticed something red on Gladio's right arm and he felt sick to the stomach. Did he hit Gladio?

* * *

 

The silence between them was unbearable. It was even worse than the noise of their surroundings resonating in his head, making it throb painfully. Sitting on the edge of the the haven, Prompto watched the others setting up the tent. To stunt the bleeding on Gladios arm they had improvised a bandage by ripping up part of his shirt. The shot just grazed him – and still also hit the midgarsomr - but Prompto still felt like he had nearly killed him.

Nobody talked about it. They had hurried on when the beast was slain, not wanting to meet another one of those and after a while they found a haven to their relief. It was getting dark again and they all were tired so everyone agreed to set up the tent as fast as possible to get out of the rain and get some rest.

Prompto didn't want to go in. He was exhausted, tired and cold but he didn't want to enter the tent. He didn't want to lie down and wait for sleep that wouldn't come.

"Prom?"

Prompto flinched at the sound of a voice right next to him and nearly fell over to the side.

"Easy, it's me." Noctis said, a worried look on his face. He offered a hand to the blond to help him stand up, "Already asleep, huh? Come on, the tent's dry inside at least." He gently nudged Prompto in the tent's general direction before he slipped inside, waiting for Prompto to do the same.

The blond hesitated, the familiar feeling of dread rising inside him. He'd have to try and sleep if he'd go in there. Or act like it so he wouldn't worry the others. Slowly he climbed into the tent, taking his usual place between Gladio and Noctis. Gladio was lying on his side, back facing the others but his posture seemed relaxed so Prompto guessed he was already half asleep.

"You should get some rest. It can't be far anymore." Ignis said in a calming way before stretching out next to Noctis. This didn't console Prompto at all. He lied down on his back and began staring at the tent's ceiling. After a few minutes he forced himself to close his eyes, trying to find something calming in the noise of the rain, the breathing next to him or the occasional rustle of a sleeping bag, but after a few minutes his eyes snapped open again. It was pointless. Futile, it won't work. Everything was too loud, the smallest noise bouncing around in his head and becoming gradually louder.

Drawing in a shaky breath he pressed his hands on his face. The sixth night.

Not wanting to wake Ignis again, he left his phone alone this time and lost track of time pretty fast. Was it already three in the morning? Or had he just stayed like that for a few minutes? He wasn't sure. His body shook as he choked back a sob. He was so tired.

When he lifted his hands from his face they were wet. Carefully he sat up, pressing one hand on his mouth to stifle more sobs. He couldn't control this anymore. His body screamed for sleep but his brain was still active, thinking, hurting, letting Prompto experience every little noise at an incredible volume.

Biting down on his lip to make no noise he crawled out of the tent, careful not to wake the others. He only allowed himself to breathe in again when he was at the edge of the haven again and felt safe enough so the others couldn't hear him. He curled up, drawing his legs up against his body and buried his face in his arms. Soon the shaking got worse as now allowed his tears to flow freely, every sob making his body tense painfully. At some point he started to rock back and forth in a desperate attempt to try and calm himself down a bit.

When the feeling of raindrops landing on him ceased he first thought nothing of it, until he felt a presence next to him. His head jerked up and he made a small shocked noise as he looked right in Gladio's face. The lager man held his jacket in one outstretched arm, shielding Prompto from the rain. His facial expression was soft and calm, nothing reminded him of that angry stony face he pulled after the accident.

"How long is it, Prompto?" He asked in a calm way, sitting down next to him, still wary not to touch the shaking blond.

"W-what d'you mean?" Prompto stammered. He knew exactly what he meant but something inside him still demanded to tell Gladio that everything was fine.

"Come on now, do you think I'm that daft?" Gladio sighed, "You haven't slept, Prom. For days I'd guess, I can see that. How many nights have you lost?"

Prompto was quiet for a moment. He couldn't look at Gladio when he finally admitted how long he hadn't slept. Gladio took a deep breath, processing the fact that the blond hadn't slept for nearly six nights.

"I'm so tired." Prompto's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked down at the younger man. He had started rocking again, his face hidden in his arms but the sobs clearly audible. "I-I want to sleep. I want to sleep more tha-than anything else but-" He chocked on his tears which made his body shake even more. "I just can't, s-something won't let me. I can't."

He flinched as he felt a hand was gently placed on his back, right between his shoulder blades and slowly started rubbing in circles. Letting it happen, Prompto stopped talking. He curled up a bit more, his fingers entangled in his hair.

Gladio waited patiently for Prompto to calm down. It took the blond a good while until he eventually relaxed a bit and showed his face again.

"I'm sorry." Prompto said with a hoarse voice.

"No need to be. Seems like you needed to get that out of your system."

"I mean your arm. I could have killed you."

"But you haven't." Gladio said with a sigh, "No sweat, buddy. Forget it, alright? I'm still in one piece."

Prompto nodded, not in the mood for an argument.

"Let's go back." Gladio said, attempting to stand up. "Tonight you're gonna sleep. You'll see."

The blond felt drained. Too drained to argue. He just wanted to believe Gladio and so he followed him with slow steps.

The inside of the tent smelled of wet clothes and dirt. Sitting on his sleeping bag Prompto watched Gladio lying down, already feeling that dread again. Gladio thought it could be that easy but that wasn't true. When Gladio gestured for him to lie down as well he obeyed, though a little hesitant at first. Scooping a bit closer, Gladio made him turn to one side so that his back was facing him. He felt a large, warm hand on his back again, slowly stroking in circles. First only between his shoulder blades like before but after a while he went up and down his whole back, carefully massaging his tensed up muscles into relaxation. It felt good.

"Relax." He heard Gladio's voice say but it sounded very far away. In fact everything sounded like hearing it through a thick curtain.

Prompto didn't try to fight it. He didn't want to fight it. He had waited too long for this to happen.

The next he felt was a hand in his hair, gently ruffling it and...wind on his face? His other senses slowly came to and he heard something growl. No, that was no growl. With some effort he cracked one eye open. The first thing he saw was blue. The sky? Yes, there were clouds, this was definitely the sky. He blinked a few times, lifting his gaze further up to see Gladio sitting there only then realizing that he had his head in Gladio's lap.

"Look who's finally awake." Noctis said and Prompto turned his head to see where his voice came from. The prince was leaning over the backrest of the Regalia, watching him with a slight grin.

Then the realization finally hit him.

"A-are we..." He stammered, but fell silent again as he felt Gladio's hand on his forehead.

"We are." Gladio said. "On our way back to civilization. And to a nice hotel hopefully."

"You refused to wake up." Noctis explained as he saw Prompto's questioning look. "Gladio carried you all the way back to the car."

"Uhm." Prompto looked back up to Gladio. "H-how did you-" He was silenced by Gladio shaking his head.

"When Iris was little she used to have a hard time falling asleep, this always did the trick, so I guessed it was worth the try. And you're a lightweight, so don't even think about feeling bad for me carrying you, I've had it worse."

"Thanks. Seriously."

"Wanna catch some more sleep? It's still far to the next place."

"Can I stay like that?"

Gladio chuckled. "Sure."

With a soft smile on his face Prompto closed his eyes again, already dozing off when he felt a hand on his back stroking up and down his spine to let him drift off to sleep again.


End file.
